I recently saw a stove at the home of a collector. This is a very rare Longquan kiln stove, official shape, with nail marks, although there are small residues, it is still precious, especially for our study and research, it is a very meaningful artifact. I also have a lot of feelings about this stove. Although the book "Northern Song Dynasty Official Kiln in Longquan" has been published, its thinking is not over, and such a small furnace, in my opinion, seems to be able to connect the two Song Dynasty official kilns.
Ding-style furnace shape, flat along the double vertical ears, flat round abdomen at the bottom, three-column foot. The tire is white and fine, the bright pink glaze is pure and non-open, the enamel is clear to the bone, clear as ice, and the green is as bright as washing. The three legs are glazed with five nail marks on the bottom. The caliber is 13.5 cm, and the physical object is relatively small.
Seeing this stove, listening to my lessons, and reading my text, you should be able to realize that this is the early product of the Longquan kiln in the Southern Song Dynasty, that is, what I once called a type of "white tire fine porcelain" (you can refer to the humble book "Longquan Kiln Papers" pages 67 to 68 "On the Problem of White Tires in longquan kilns in the Southern Song Dynasty"). This type of celadon is characterized by the delicate texture of the porcelain tire, which is whiter than the white and gray tire color of the Longquan kiln in the same period. Secondly, the sintering temperature is very high, compared with ordinary lime glaze products, the enamel is more transparent, and the aesthetic degree of glass is also higher. If compared with the Products of the Northern Song Dynasty, the fetal bone is slightly thicker, and the glaze water is also significantly thickened, of course, it is still thin compared with the thick glaze in the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty. In general, its quality workmanship is higher than that of longquan kilns in the same period, as can be seen in this piece of furnace.
More importantly, this furnace is burned, and the nails are like official labels. There is no nail firing phenomenon in the traditional Longquan kiln process, but there is indeed a phenomenon of nail firing in the Song Longquan kiln, although the proportion of the nail is extremely low (for details, please refer to the relevant articles included in the book "Longquan Kiln Papers"). At present, a number of cases of nail specimens, white tires and gray tires and black tires have been found, and the time runs through the early middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, and the white tire fine porcelain in the early Southern Song Dynasty is quite representative. Here are two typical examples:
1
Flat bottom dish, wide rim, shallow straight belly, flat bottom. The fetal bone is white and slightly thicker, the glaze is slightly thinner but greener, and the bottom six nails are arranged in a circle, and the nail marks are round and thick, and they are raised upwards.
2
The residual base specimen, collected from a construction site in Hangzhou, has a fine white tire, a slightly thick fetal bone, a thin glaze layer, a glaze with a glassy texture luster, an irregular shallow pattern, a verdant crystal at the glaze, and an inscription engraved under the glaze on the inner sole "... On the fourth day of the first day of the Deshu Palace", the sole of the circle foot is glazed, and there are four nail marks on the outer outsole, and the nail marks are roughly round, thick and convex.
Deoksugung Palace
The Southern Song Dynasty Wu Zimu's "Record of Dreams" volume VIII "Deshou Palace" article says: "Deshou Palace is in the east of Wangxian Bridge, the Yuan Dynasty Qin Taishi Shidi, in Shaoxing Thirty-second June, Pengchen, Gaomiao tired, do not govern state affairs, do not create the palace royal, order-by-order construction of the palace, plaque Deshou for the name." Later, Jin Zhi was born in the left building, and the temple plaque was changed to Kangshou. "Deoksugung Palace was expanded from qin juju province on the east side of Wangxian Bridge, and was the palace where Emperor Gaozong of Song abdicated in 1162, after which many emperors followed Emperor Gaozong's example and retreated to this palace, and in the sixteenth year of Chunxi (1189), Zhao Dun, the third son of Emperor Xiaozong, moved to this palace and changed Deshou to Chonghua Palace. Later, it was renamed Cifu Palace and Shouci Palace because of the worship of Empress Xiansheng and Empress Shoucheng. According to this, the specimen was fired between 1162 and 1189 AD. In addition, the underglaze engraving is carved before entering the kiln, so the vessel should be a custom instrument of the court. According to the content of the inscription, it may be carved for special purposes such as sacrifice and blessing.
Although these two cases are different from the above-mentioned Ding-style furnaces, and the color of the glaze is also color difference, the characteristics of the glaze and the characteristics of the nail marks are similar, which is undoubtedly a product of the same period. In particular, the remnant specimen is clearly defined by the underglaze inscription as an object of deokshou Palace in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. Combined with various indications, the Longquan kiln in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty is likely to have an official kiln serving the court, and its nature may be similar to that of the Yuyao official kiln in the low ridge area of Shanglin Lake in the same period, and the firing time of the Longquan official kiln is likely to be longer than that of the Yuyao official kiln.
The author has come into contact with a rather interesting porcelain specimen, a fragment of a plum blue glaze plate in a Longquan kiln, with a thin glaze, a clear glaze, and a residual inscription under the outer sole of the glaze "Xiu Nei Si Ping Jiang Xie Xing Zu" eight characters.
The fragment-shaped system can be recognized as a shallow abdomen large circle foot plate, which is a typical official shape in the Longquan kiln, and there are similar utensils in the Ru kiln and the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln.
The fragment is treasured by a senior collector in Hangzhou, and the old gentleman also has a fragment of a red clay sculpture of a child doll, missing its head and limbs, and a four-character inscription on the back of it, which is said to have been excavated near the site of "Tiger Cave" in Hangzhou. Coincidentally, the author has also collected a porcelain fetal doll, the bottom stamp "Pingjiang Xie Xingzu Plastic" single line six-character model, the section is delicate, the black tire color is dark and thick, the tire quality is loose, and the texture of the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln is very close (for details, please refer to the article "Xie Xingzu" and "Mo Drink Le" in the humble book "Longquan Kiln Papers").
"Xie Xingzu Sculpture", "Pingjiang Xie Xingzu Sculpture", "Xiu Nei Si Pingjiang Xie Xingzu", these three sets of inscriptions form a correlation, and the possibility of the three "Xie Xingzu" being the same person is very high. The History of Xie is not recorded, but according to the inscription, he was a famous potter of the Song Dynasty from Pingjiang (Pingjiang, present-day Suzhou), who was good at kneading clay dolls and served in the Xiu Nei division. The connection between Xie Xingzu and the Longquan porcelain pieces is likely due to Xie Xingzu's involvement in the official firing activities of the Longquan kiln as a member of the Supervision Agency (Xiu Neisi).
"Xiu Neisi" is the official signature, the subordinate will be the supervisor, in charge of the palace, the Temple repair affairs, in addition to the Southern Song Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty, Jin, Yuan all have settings. Judging from the relevant documents such as the "Past Affairs of Wulin", as a palace internal affairs agency, the Xiunei Division involved a number of court affairs arrangements, and its functions were equivalent to the Ming and Qing Dynasty Internal Affairs Office. For example, in the "Past Events of Wulin", volume 3, "Beggar Qiao" article, there is a record that "before the Tanabata Festival, The Shu Nei Si routine entered the Majura Ten Zhuo", indicating that the Shu Nei Si was also responsible for making the court Mahara. In this way, it is more understandable why Xie Xingzu, a mud child artist, will be on an errand at Xiu Neisi.
Going back to this Ding-style furnace with a support nail, why is it said that it connects two Song Dynasty official kilns? Friends who have some knowledge of the Official Kiln in the Southern Song Dynasty should be familiar with the shape of the furnace, and there is the same Type Ding-style furnace in the excavations of the Siguan Kiln Site in Hangzhou Tiger Cave.
There is also a treasured collection at the Shizukado Bunko Museum of Art in Japan. The furnace was brought into Japan by the famous Japanese collector Hirota Matsushige (号不孤斋), and its journey is quite tortuous.
In addition, the humble book "Northern Song Dynasty Official Kiln in Longquan" also includes a case of the same type of remnant, that is, there are also such Ding-style furnace shapes in the Longquan Northern Song Dynasty Official Kiln.
Gray tires, the fetal bone is evenly thin, the glaze layer is thick, and the glaze is grayish blue. The outsole is left with five nail marks. Compared with the ding-style furnace in the early Southern Song Dynasty, the characteristics of tire glaze and aesthetic style are obviously different. In addition, there are certain differences in the type of instrument, so that the furnace is a lip and no edge, and the furnace in the early Southern Song Dynasty has a narrow edge. The two are similar in style, but the nail marks of this Beiguan furnace appear to be larger. Judging from the many specimens of nails in Longquan kiln, the size of the nail marks varies, and it is likely that the early lack of experience, so that the traces are too heavy, and then they are continuously improved and more refined.
From the above examples, it can be seen that the official kiln Ding-style furnace has a heritage, from the Longquan Northern Song Dynasty official kiln, the Longquan Southern Song Dynasty early official kiln to the Hangzhou Tiger Cave Xiu Nei Si Guan kiln, there is a lineage. From this, we can more deeply understand what the literature says: "Inheriting the legacy of Emperor Huizong, placing the kiln in the Xiu Neisi (Gu Wenxian 'Negative Miscellaneous Records' kiln vessel strips)". The establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty's Internal Siguan Kiln is not only a continuation of the official kiln system, but also a inheritance of "official style".
The problem of the two Song Dynasty official kilns is complex and multifaceted, and there are many controversies and doubts in itself, not to mention the solution, and those who are helpful for solving the puzzle are precious. As described in this article, this Longquan kiln early Southern Song Dynasty Ding-style furnace is personally believed to be an important artifact that carries on from top to bottom. We should pay more attention to such artifacts in our usual collections, although they seem to be scaled and half clawed, as long as they insist on accumulating, they will be able to gain great gains and understandings.